As President George W. Bush flew around Latin America this week, he was looking for a way to turn attention away from his negative poll ratings in the region. One answer would be to pledge a hemisphere-wide partnership to end extreme poverty in rural Latin America before 2015. The inequality in the region is the most garish worldwide. The World Bank states that the "richest one-tenth of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean earn 48 percent of total income and the poorest tenth earn only 1.6 percent." In Bolivia, the richest one- tenth earn on the order of 140 times the bottom one-tenth. The World Bank report on inequality found that indigenous men earn between 35 percent to 65 percent less than white men in seven countries with the highest indigenous population and that families headed by indigenous women had the least access to potable water, sanitation, jobs or education. Seventy years ago, in the United States, the government and its people decided that recovery from the Depression required bringing rural families, many living in extreme poverty, in out of the cold. That investment has helped make the United States an agricultural giant, but probably even more important, it bridged some of the urban/rural divide. Acting to give Giving a clear message to the rural poor in Latin America that government cares about them would not be a bad idea for Bush. Mark Schneider, Senior Vice President of the International Crisis Group in Washington, was the second Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (El Salvador, 1966–68) to head the agency.

As President George W. Bush flew around Latin America this week, he was looking for a way to turn attention away from his negative poll ratings in the region. One answer would be to pledge a hemisphere-wide partnership to end extreme poverty in rural Latin America before 2015.

The overwhelming misery of millions of rural peasants — who comprise the majority of Latin America's indigenous peoples — is a basic reason why Hugo Chávez's populism and revolutionary bombast have produced such an echo in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, where there have been decades of rural abandonment and indigenous exclusion.

In some ways, Bush can reach into U.S. history to the Depression and recall the determined effort of President Franklin Roosevelt to bring water, basic sanitation, housing, roads and electricity to rural communities. Rural infrastructure investment suddenly took off through the rural electrical cooperatives, power projects such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, and government- financed jobs programs that built farm- to-market roads and more than 78,000 bridges.

That vision is now underpinned by recent World Bank studies, InterAmerican Development Bank concepts, and nongovernmental organization reports. All of them have found that in addition to fairer access to land, physical infrastructure projects, credit and technical help, and commercial and human capital investment have essentially bypassed rural Latin America. Overall investment has been half what it should have been, given the size of agriculture in the economy, according to the World Bank.

And the return is two for one, which adds a fair economic argument to the political case for new investment by the Latin countries themselves in the rural areas, with some U.S. and other donor support. World Bank economists found that for every 1 percent invested in rural economic growth, such as agricultural investment or natural-resource conservation, there would be a two-fold increase in the contribution to national economic growth and a two-fold reduction in its contribution to reducing national poverty rates.

Rural development should have been the focus when Bush talked with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia. It is in the rural areas of Colombia, Bolivia and Peru where coca cultivation occurs, and those areas have not received their fair share of infrastructure investment and broad development support. That targeting also would fit nicely with Bush's plans to promote biofuels development.

For Colombia and the United States, it is time to shift away from an 80/20 military/economic split. Colombia needs to launch a nationwide strategy for integrated infrastructure investment, governance and social programs to address the extreme poverty of many rural indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities. That package has to be available immediately after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrillas are no longer present.

Recent statistics show that in the Andean countries more than 80 percent of the rural population lives in poverty. In Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, 80 percent of the indigenous population are poor and over half are among the extreme poor.

The inequality in the region is the most garish worldwide. The World Bank states that the "richest one-tenth of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean earn 48 percent of total income and the poorest tenth earn only 1.6 percent." In Bolivia, the richest one- tenth earn on the order of 140 times the bottom one-tenth. The World Bank report on inequality found that indigenous men earn between 35 percent to 65 percent less than white men in seven countries with the highest indigenous population and that families headed by indigenous women had the least access to potable water, sanitation, jobs or education.

Seventy years ago, in the United States, the government and its people decided that recovery from the Depression required bringing rural families, many living in extreme poverty, in out of the cold. That investment has helped make the United States an agricultural giant, but probably even more important, it bridged some of the urban/rural divide. Acting to give Giving a clear message to the rural poor in Latin America that government cares about them would not be a bad idea for Bush.

Mark L. Schneider, former director of the Peace Corps, is senior vice president of the International Crisis Group and special adviser on Latin America. This article first appeared in The Boston Globe.

PCOL serves half millionPCOL's readership for April exceeded 525,000 visitors - a 50% increase over last year. This year also saw the advent of a new web site: Peace Corps News that together with the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps serve 17,000 RPCVs, Staff, and Friends of the Peace Corps every day. Thanks for making PCOL your source of news for the Peace Corps community. Read more.

Suspect confesses in murder of PCVSearch parties in the Philippines discovered the body of Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell near Barangay Batad, Banaue town on April 17. Director Tschetter expressed his sorrow at learning the news. “Julia was a proud member of the Peace Corps family, and she contributed greatly to the lives of Filipino citizens in Donsol, Sorsogon, where she served,” he said. Latest: Suspect Juan Duntugan admits to killing Campbell. Leave your thoughts and condolences .

Warren Wiggins: Architect of the Peace CorpsWarren Wiggins, who died at 84 on April 13, became one of the architects of the Peace Corps in 1961 when his paper, "A Towering Task," landed in the lap of Sargent Shriver, just as Shriver was trying to figure out how to turn the Peace Corps into a working federal department. Shriver was electrified by the treatise, which urged the agency to act boldly. Read Mr. Wiggins' obituary and biography, take an opportunity to read the original document that shaped the Peace Corps' mission, and read John Coyne's special issue commemorating "A Towering Task."

Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace CorpsSenator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances, private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments.

He served with honorOne year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor.

Peace Corps' Screening and Medical ClearanceThe purpose of Peace Corps' screening and medical clearance process is to ensure safe accommodation for applicants and minimize undue risk exposure for volunteers to allow PCVS to complete their service without compromising their entry health status. To further these goals, PCOL has obtained a copy of the Peace Corps Screening Guidelines Manual through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and has posted it in the "Peace Corps Library." Applicants and Medical Professionals (especially those who have already served as volunteers) are urged to review the guidelines and leave their comments and suggestions. Then read the story of one RPCV's journey through medical screening and his suggestions for changes to the process.

The Peace Corps is "fashionable" againThe LA Times says that "the Peace Corps is booming again and "It's hard to know exactly what's behind the resurgence." PCOL Comment: Since the founding of the Peace Corps 45 years ago, Americans have answered Kennedy's call: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Over 182,000 have served. Another 200,000 have applied and been unable to serve because of lack of Congressional funding. The Peace Corps has never gone out of fashion. It's Congress that hasn't been keeping pace.

PCOL readership increases 100%Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

History of the Peace CorpsPCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.

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Story Source: International Herald Tribune

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